IBT Staff Reporter

Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported a flat quarterly profit that met Wall Street expectations on Thursday as the stronger U.S. dollar offset increased sales from shoppers seeking deals in its stores amid a global economic slowdown.

North Korea said on Thursday it would put two U.S. journalists it arrested in March on trial on June 4, ratcheting up tension with Washington after a rocket launch and a threat to conduct a nuclear test.

Japan's Konica Minolta Holdings said on Thursday it planned to expand its range of high-tech film for LCD panels in a move to broaden its customer base.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported a flat quarterly profit on Thursday as its low prices attracted shoppers amid a global economic slowdown, but the retailer's results suffered from the stronger U.S. dollar.

Japan should hold an election in July and appeal to voters with promises of more public spending for the recession-hit economy, former prime minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday amid signs of a tough election battle ahead.

The World Trade Organization's top court issued a mixed ruling on Thursday in a case involving U.S. treatment of unfairly priced imports but urged the United States to comply with previous WTO rulings in the dispute.

Stocks rose on Thursday, lifted by a rebound in technology shares, while a surprisingly big rise in weekly jobless claims brought new worries about the economy and pushed defensive shares higher.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc , which sent global markets into a tailpsin after filing for bankruptcy in September 2008, is looking at spinning off its remaining assets, the Wall Street Journal said in an unsourced article.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week, government data showed on Thursday, pushed up by auto plant shutdowns related to Chrysler's bankruptcy.

The completion of an Israeli strategic missile shield underwritten by the United States has been called into question as the budget-strapped Pentagon eyes a U.S. alternative.

Chrysler LLC plans to shed 789 of its U.S. 3,200 dealerships, many located in the suburbs of major U.S. cities, it said in a bankruptcy court filing Thursday.

Thousands of civilians under rebel fire waded across a lagoon to escape Sri Lanka's war zone, where government forces have surrounded Tamil Tiger separatists for the final battle of a 25-year conflict, the military and a U.N. official said.

Corrects fifth paragraph to losses instead of lawsuits

Pakistan will defeat the Taliban militarily but could lose the public relations war if it fails to help the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday.

The largest solar deal in the world to date was announced between California utility Pacific Gas and Electric Co and solar firm BrightSource Energy Inc. on Wednesday, for a total of 1,310 megawatts of clean energy.

Wachovia Capital Markets upgraded Johnson Controls Inc to outperform, saying the auto parts maker was well positioned to generate strong earnings growth in 2010 and beyond.

Colombia's state oil company Ecopetrol said on Thursday it could seek up it $3.7 billion in debt this year, including issuing bonds on the international market, and is studying other types of credit.

Two decades after his downfall and four years after his death, reformist Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang has broken the official silence on the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, denouncing the killings of protesters as a tragedy.

Stocks rose on Thursday, underpinned by a rebound in technology shares, while renewed concerns about the economy boosted defensive stocks.

India's ruling Congress-led coalition and its main rival jostled for new allies on Thursday to boost their possible parliamentary numbers after exit polls said both would fall well short of a majority.

Rivals to lead Japan's main opposition party promised on Thursday to eliminate wasteful spending and reform the pension system as the party battles to widen its lead ahead of a looming election.

The number of confirmed cases of the new Influenza A (H1N1) flu has climbed to 6,497, including 65 deaths, the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday welcomed the election of the United States to the top United Nations rights forum and urged it to prosecute those accused of torture and other abuses.

The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose more than expected last week, government data showed on Thursday, pushed up by auto plant shutdowns related to Chrysler's bankruptcy.

Bahrain's central bank urged creditors of The International Banking Corporation to meet over debt restructuring, two days after S&P said TIBC had chosen not to pay back some of its debt and downgraded it.

Britain's ruling Labor party suspended a senior lawmaker and a top aide to the opposition leader stepped down Thursday in a widening sleaze scandal that is alienating voters.

U.S. President Barack Obama sought advice from congressional leaders on Wednesday as he pondered a broad group of candidates for a Supreme Court opening ranging from judges to a member of his Cabinet.

The bidding war for software-maker SumTotal Systems Inc heated up with private-equity firm Vista Equity Partners sweetening its bid by 6 percent, trumping Accel-KKR's offer that SumTotal had agreed to.

Europe's pharmaceutical industry hit back at the European Commission on Thursday, saying a probe into lack of competition in the sector was exaggerated and misleading.